When the Rams moved to Los Angeles, they knew it would be a little while before they played their home games in a top-notch facility. They agreed to play at the Coliseum for three years, expecting their shiny new stadium to be completed for 2019.

It was delayed a year, forcing the Rams to play at the Coliseum for a total of four years – a lengthy period of time for a facility that old. It’s one of the worst stadiums in the NFL despite being so massive, and the Rams are well aware that they have a hard time filling it, even capping ticket sales at 65,000 all year.

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Fans have embraced the team fully now that they’re among the league’s best, but owner Stan Kroenke still isn’t pleased with the Rams’ home facility.

“In two years we’ll be in a new stadium, and I think we can have a true home-field advantage like a lot of the teams do,” Kroenke told USA TODAY Sports. “We don’t really have it now.”

Kroenke wasn’t insulting Rams fans, saying “I shouldn’t say that because the fans were great,” but it’s about the way the Coliseum is set up. It’s such a massive stadium that puts fans so far away from the action, and while it does get loud, it doesn’t hold sound the way many other venues do.

Fans were loud and energetic on Saturday against the Falcons, which Kroenke is pleased with, but he wants the Rams to have a home-field advantage similar to the one the Vikings have in Minnesota, or the Saints in New Orleans.

(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

“Have you been up there?” Kroenke said, referring to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota. “That is a true home-field advantage because it’s so loud, it’s packed, it’s new.”

USC has no trouble filling the Coliseum and its fans are raucous, but it’s hard to expect the same from Rams fans. There isn’t a more passionate group of people than diehard college football fans, which is why it’s unfair for people to compare attendance marks for the Rams to the Trojans.

That being said, Kroenke knows L.A. supports the Rams, it just needs a better place to play.

“We don’t have a good facility,” he said. “It’s the Coliseum. This place is cavernous. It’ll swallow up 65,000, 70,000 people.”

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

More than 74,000 fans filled the Coliesum on Saturday night, which was the most of this season. Last year, the Rams first in Los Angeles, the team didn’t cap ticket sales. In the first home game of the year, 91,000 fans came out to support the Rams. That was the highest mark of the year for L.A., but attendance slowly tapered off during the season, dropping to 80,000 in Week 17 – still a huge number for a 4-12 team.

Interest was obviously much higher last year with it being the team’s first in a new city, and the Rams are hoping a new stadium has the same effect in 2020.

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